draliman on life

Here is my post for Cee’s Share Your World for week 41.

What genre of music do you like?
I like all sorts! Pop and rock are the ones I listen to most. Currently early at work when I’m there by myself I’m alternating between Froot (Marina and the Diamonds), the eponymous album Evanescence and The Book of Souls (Iron Maiden).

Sometimes when a particular chap gets in early he sets the radio channel to Classic FM. It drives me nuts. I keep wanting to order dessert because it makes me feel like I’m in a posh restaurant, or maybe in a lift. I know many people find classical music calming but it winds me up something fierce :-).

What is the worst thing you ate this last week?
I didn’t eat anything bad this last week. I always eat much the same stuff week to week, so it’s unlikely that I’ll eat anything “bad”.

Would you like to be famous?  In what way?
No, I wouldn’t like to be famous. Imagine having people always trying to sneak a peak into your life, taking long-range photos when you’re out shopping and the like. Yeeks!

Complete this sentence:  This sandwich could really use some…
… self respect.

Look at you, sitting there with no mayonnaise. No mustard or condiment of any kind in fact. Call yourself a sandwich? You make me sick, sick I say. Sort yourself out, mister. At least garnish yourself with a little pickle, for Heaven’s sake.

Here is my contribution to Cee’s Share Your World. Week 40 already!

If you have been to a foreign country name those you have been to?
Well, to Cornish Nationalists England, Scotland and Wales are foreign countries so can I claim them? 🙂 On top of those,

• Germany (up in the north) twice on school exchanges
• Germany (Stuttgart, in the south) for a year during my first degree
• Switzerland (for a day trip during the afore-mentioned year in Germany)
• France a couple of times (day trip and business meeting)
• The Netherlands a couple of times (business meetings)
• Ireland (four years)

That’s it, I think. I haven’t been to most of the usual places like Spain. And some places many people go to have become too dangerous or have “changed hands”. My parents managed to visit Crimea shortly before it became unexpectedly Russian.

Is the glass half empty or half full? What type of glass is it and what is in the glass?
Any old glass will do! I’m known as a pessimist (though apparently I’ve been showing a more positive attitude over the last year). So my glass has a dribble of water left in the bottom. There’s a fly floating in it. It’s struggling to get out. But it won’t.

If you could have an endless supply of any food, what would you get?
Hmm, tricky. All the foods I would like an endless supply of would cause massive obesity and early death, like ice cream, chocolate and pizzas. But if the calories, fat, sugar and salt weren’t an issue I’d either go for a premium expensive(ish) chocolate like Thornton’s or Lindt, or an expensive cheese.

List:  List at least five places worth shopping.
Five? FIVE? I pretty much buy everything on Amazon. I buy my groceries at Tesco but it’s neither good nor bad, it’s just “there”. I occasionally get stuff from Argos (like my bed, or small things like shower curtains). I bought my cooker from Appliances Online – I can recommend them, they were very efficient. I bought bedding for my new bed from Dunelm, they have a good range.

There you go, five. Though I’ve only used the last two once each! Looks like I really do buy nearly everything from Amazon.

It’s time to Share My World again, with the questions posed by talented photographer Cee.

Which way does the toilet paper roll go? Over or under?
Over, obviously :-).

As well as ensuring that one doesn’t smack one’s hand into the wall while using this configuration, according to the excellent website and essential research tool Toilet Paper History (hey, you really can find anything on the interwebz) the “official” inventor of the toilet roll holder, Seth Wheeler, clearly showed the toilet paper in an “over” configuration in his patent application.

Picture via cnet.com, but since it’s a patent I’m assuming it’s public domain

So there.

If you were a crayon, what colour would you be?
Recently I had to be a pen, now a crayon. I’m regressing. Soon I’ll be a finger paint.

I guess some sort of purple/mauve/indigo/deep blue colour. That’s my favourite.

You are comfortable doing nothing? For long stretches of time?
That depends on what “nothing” means. I’m assuming just sitting there not reading, watching TV or anything. I don’t really do that. But if I’m in a situation where I’m waiting for something, say at the doctor’s, I’m okay just sitting there watching people come and go.

Would you accept $5,000 to shave your head or dye it bright lime green and continue your normal activities while not explaining the reason for your haircut or colour?
Well, five grand is five grand! I’d go for the shaving of the head, I think. It would only take around three months for my hair to grow back to the way it is now. I don’t know how I’d get away without telling anyone, though. They might think I’m having chemo or something and that wouldn’t be fair on them.

I suppose bright lime green would quickly grow out, too. And think of all the lovely things I could buy!

It’s time for another Share Your World, hosted by Cee!

What do you do to make a living or during the day if you are retired.  If you are a student what are you studying?
I work in IT for a small internet-based company. I write code, review other people’s code, help other people write code, test code, put code live, look after servers, look after databases, provide support…

Have you ever participated in a distance walking, swimming, running, or biking event? Tell your story.
No. Doing so would place unnecessary strain on our National Health Service :-).

What is usually your first thought when you wake up?
Weekend/Public Holiday/Annual Leave: “Yay! Let’s get this day started! Oh, the possibilities!”

Work day: “Ugh. Morning already? Ugh. How can it be morning already? I only just went to bed. Ugh.”

Complete this sentence: Look out behind you, it’s a…
…monkey.

How great would that be? Monkeys are cool. They even have a cute name. Monkey. Hee hee :-).

Here is my post for Cee’s Share Your World.

If you could have three wishes granted for you alone, what would they be?
Ah, for me alone. Finally a “wishes” question where I can be selfish and not wish for world peace and the desire to open a donkey sanctuary.

I wish for the power to bend the universe to my will bwahahaha. I don’t need the other two wishes, since I can now do anything I want with the first one.

What is the most incredible natural venue that you’ve ever seen in person?
I’ve seen so many great places, it’s hard to choose. I don’t know that they would classify as “incredible”, rather “beautiful”. I’ll go for St. Nectan’s glen, since I have some pictures handy. Obviously the little cairns and tree decorations were put there by humans, but the glen itself is natural.

Now, the definition of venue is “the scene or setting in which something takes place”. So let’s make this a “venue” by imagining that in days gone by, pagan ceremonies were conducted here. Probably witches dancing around naked :-).

Is your hair short (total neck and ear showing), medium (covering ears and neck), long (below shoulders) or extra long (at least halfway down your back)?
Short. I tell the barber “8 on top, 4 on the back and sides” (that’s 8th’s of an inch I think). I have it cut every 4-5 weeks so it stays pretty short.

List some of your favourite blogs.
Ooh, I can’t do that! I’d hate to miss any out. I follow a lot of people who write for Friday Fictioneers and Mondays Finish the Story, plus a number of other blogs. I’m sure you’ll see my little gravatar around the place!

Here’s my regular Share Your World post, hosted as ever by Cee over at her newly redesigned blog, Cee’s Photography. Thanks for hosting, Cee!

If you were a pen, what type, style and colour would you be?
A pen? Hmm. I’ve imagined being a multi-billionaire, a top footie player, an international playboy, but never a pen. Black ink. Nothing too fancy. But with some sort of clicker mechanism on the end. Having my head dragged across paper all day would be bad enough without someone constantly chewing on my ass.

How many languages do you you speak?
That depends on what’s meant by “speak”, from a “fluent” point of view.

UK English, obviously. Most American English words and spellings (thanks US TV!) and some Australian English slang. French (enough to get by in restaurants and the like) and German (enough for simple conversations).

Do computer languages count? ASP.NET, VB.NET, C#, ASP, VBScript, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, JQuery, T-SQL, PowerShell.

Are you a listener or talker?
Definitely a listener, especially around people I don’t know. I need to get a sense of people before saying too much so that I can slip into the conversation unnoticed.

Rather Have:  Which would you rather have, 2 million dollars or true love? 
Is this true love that will remain that way, or the true love which quickly fades into tolerance (he asked cynically)? I think maybe the cold hard cash in my pocket would be the way to go here.

I’m about to take the plunge and click the “upgrade to Windows 10” button! So if I go quiet for a little while, it’s because I’ve screwed my laptop. Yay :-). Wish me luck…

Here is my post for Cee’s Share Your World for this week.

What made you feel good this week?
Nothing in particular, really. Life just trundles along. Everything is nicely stable on the contentment scale. I did visit St. Michael’s Mount. I’ll do another post with pictures, but here’s a little taster.

For potlucks or parties do you cook it yourself, buy from a grocery store, or pay for catering?
I don’t really go to potlucks or parties, but I would certainly buy something from a shop. Pay for catering? That sounds a bit too high class for any sort of party I would be invited to. And me cooking would likely lead to some sort of unfortunate mass poisoning incident :-(.

What is your favourite part of the town/city you live in.  And what Country do you live in?
I live in England. I guess my favourite part of my village is my house. There isn’t a lot more here. The shop, the village hall and so on.

Complete this sentence:  My favourite place in the whole world…
… is anywhere with lovely scenery. Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall, Wales, anywhere I’ve been and seen lovely places.

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Week 34 already. Where has the year gone?

Thanks as always to Cee for hosting this challenge, on top of all the photography challenges she hosts as well!

Was school easy or difficult for you? How so?
Yes. Both. The work was okay, I usually got good marks. But the whole school thing. Yuck!

Who was it who said school is “the happiest days of your life”? Or did that saying just pop up out of nowhere? It’s a big fat lie, anyway.

As an adult, with bills and responsibilities and all the rest, at least you’re in control of the big mess you’re making of it :-).

What is your favourite animal?
To have as a pet, it would be a cat. As for animals in general, I like cute. Koala Bears are cute. Even if they’re lying about being bears.

Here’s a picture of a raccoon I bought from Goldfish’s online store. Goldfish can make anything look cute in her pictures.

How cute is that?

If you had to have your vision corrected would you rather: glasses or contacts?
I’ve worn glasses since I was around 10, and have to wear them all the time.

I did spend a few years wearing contacts while I was at university. However, back then due to my astigmatism I couldn’t have soft lenses, I had to have “semi-hard gas permeable”. They were pretty uncomfortable, and I had a real problem falling asleep in lectures back then. You don’t want to fall asleep with contacts in. Nasty.

List:  Name at least five television shows (past or present) you enjoyed?
Oh boy. I could go on forever. I guess I’ll just name some that I’m enjoying at the moment, or have enjoyed recently (which doesn’t necessarily make it recent!).

• The Good Wife
• Dr Who (obviously)
• Grimm
• Stargate SG1/Atlantis
• Blake’s 7
• Red Dwarf
• Blackadder
• From Dusk Till Dawn (the Netflix spin-off) – darker and more gory than the film – series 2 out now!
• Bones
• Lost Girl
• Grey’s Anatomy (anything medical actually – ER, Casualty, Holby City…)

Here is my Share Your World, hosted as always by Cee at her wonderful photography blog.

What are some words that just make you smile?
“Asshat” and “douche-canoe” (not technically actual words). Thanks, Merby! Kerfuffle (according to Chrome, also not actually a word). Evidently, words which are not words make me smile :-).

You’re given $500,000 dollars tax free (any currency), what do you spend it on?
Me! Mortgage and miscellaneous debts. Pay off my car. Then save for my retirement. I might even buy friends and family a present. Like a chocolate bar or something. If I’m feeling particularly generous I might even buy them a bottle of wine! One bottle between them.

What subject would you like to study in depth, if given the time to do so?
I don’t fancy the idea of studying anything to be honest. Maybe the Jedi path. As long as the study pack comes with a light sabre so I can decapitate muggers.

Would your rather be stuck in a small plane with bad turbulence for 2 hours or be a passenger in a car racing the Daytona 500?
No.

It’s Share Your World time, and we’re at week 32 already! Soon be Christmas…

Thanks as always to Cee for hosting and posing the questions.

Are you a collector of anything?
I collect neuroses, fears and anxieties of all sorts. I’ve got loads! I’m hoping they’ll be worth something one day.

What is your biggest fear or phobia? (no photos please)
No photos? Boo. Which to choose? New places, new things, change, spiders and creepy-crawlies (obviously). Fear of fear (phobophobia). Sometimes I don’t want to do something because I know it’s going to make me fearful and I don’t like that feeling. It’s like, “fear squared” or something.

Do you prefer reading coffee table books (picture), biographies, fiction, non-fiction, educational?
Fiction for sure. The only non-fiction I read is the news. Reading for me is escape. I don’t want to hear about someone else’s life or whatever.

Blog reading is a bit different, mind, as I feel I “know” my bloggy friends to some extent and I am interested to see what they’re up to. I see that more as keeping in touch with friends.

Complete this sentence:  If I Must Be Reincarnated, In the Next Life I Want to Be…
… me again! Because I’m me, there’s no point trying to be anyone else. I’d just end up being me again.